The Daughter of Dragons
by YinYangSisters
Summary: The war between the Water Empire and the Fire Nation rages on, even almost 2 decades after the Empress and heiress have been lost. But unknown to the world, the heiress Katara lives - among that of the tribe of Sun Warriors, having been adopted by the almighty dragons that reside there in secret. T for now.


Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER

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**The Daughter Of Dragons **

**PROLOGUE**

She didn't know how long she'd been running, but she knew she had to keep going.

It wasn't because she was in danger, because that time had come and gone, the gaping wound in her side being her evidence for this. Her daughter wailed on her back, her small limbs trapped under the navy parka her mother had wrapped her in as she bolted through the island, the fatigue through this catching her more than carrying her week old child. She wondered if it was the blood or sweat that was soaking her clothes, but she didn't have time to check as she fled as quickly as she could.

It wasn't about running for her life, running for safety, running to find someone who could take care of her - hell, by the way she was moving, the slow, slouched movements coupled with her wheezing and dizziness, Kya knew she shouldn't even call this running. But she had to keep going, had to find something, someone; even if it was here, in the middle of an unknown island in a jungle. Even if it was a stranger.

Kya knew she was dying - that's why she had to find someone to take her child as soon as possible.

Her baby daughter wailed and wailed against her back at her messy movements as she pushed away tree branches, stumbling over roots, pressing her hand against her wound to stem the bleeding, even if it was only a little. Her daughter's wails, in a way, motivated Kya to carry on, to trek through this jungle until her last breath, as far away from the Water Empire and the Fire Nation as possible - far from anyone who would want to kill her baby along with her.

Something in her mind was telling her this was futile, expecting to find someone to care for her child after her last few minutes had passed (which she knew would be too soon) - and Kya listened to this voice, falling to her side against a sturdy tree in the middle of the vast jungle-like terrain, sobbing loudly and messily into her sleeve, along with her daughter, the setting sun pushing through the cracks of leaves high above their heads.

And then she heard it - drums.

It was so faint, so distant, she wondered if she'd even heard it, but then the thrumming beat echoed through the leaves again, and it was enough to make Kya stumble forward, her hope almost blinding her. She listened to her feet that felt those vibrations ever so slightly, the blood starting to spill down her side, warning her to hurry as she shifted her daughter higher on her back, wiping the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand as she marched unsteadily.

Her eyesight started to become so dizzy at some point that she barely registered where she was, not taking in the facts; the dirt under her feet stopped. Stone began. Followed by sets of stairs, more paths of stone - stone, stairs, stone, stairs, of what seemed like ruins of a dead place, until Kya could barely hold her head up properly. But the beating of the drums was too close now, too loud, giving her too much hope, so she continued.

And then, soon enough, the beating, which was now echoing through her entire body, even her baby's on her back, was the only thing she could comprehend. Dragging herself up the last flight of stoned stairs, Kya saw the warriors dressed in yellow and burgundy line the outskirts of the massive circle of stone, between the peaks of too colossal mountains - on the far end, near the sea, being a set of stairs that lead to a large bridge, like a platform.

But Kya couldn't stop.

Her heart almost burst from grief as she saw these tribal men and women wield fire in their hands, despairing at the thought of trudging all this way so that she and her child could die at the hands of firebenders, like they would've if they'd stayed in the Water Empire. Some started to notice her as she dragged herself forward on the ground, crawling from the pain of her wound, her daughter wailing amongst the flutes and the drums and panpipes.

Some turned into all as they gasped in shock and horror at the blood-riddled Empress, leaving a thin trail of crimson as she crawled into the middle of the stoned circle, their very ceremony. They were caught between halting the ceremony altogether or screaming at this exotic women and her child to flee from here this instance - the tribal warriors searched for their leader, who showed himself eventually.

His face was painted, his robes far more extravagant as he stood in front of the wheezing Empress, looking down at her with utter fury - until he spotted her sniffling child on her back. Kya's head lolled up to see him, the setting sun blinding her, the drums still beating, the flutes still chirping.

"Who are you?!" the man hissed roughly. "Get out of here and never speak of what you have seen, women - you interrupt the most sacred of ceremonies known to the world-"

"_Take my baby!_" Kya cried with every ounce of energy in her as she pulled her week old daughter from her back, leaning on her tired knees as she held out the tiny, squirming child, her sobs uncontrollable, the tears themselves drawing strength from her. "P-Please, _please _just take her!"

The infant started to wail again as the drums picked up the pace, and the chief balked down at the half dead women as she held out her child, the tiny baby wriggling in the make-shift blanket, eyes squeezed shut as she wailed. The leader spluttered, swallowing thickly-

"We are not an orphanage-"

"_PLEASE!_" Kya roared.

And out came the two might beasts with a deafening cry.

Kya watched in shock, wondering whether to trust her blurried vision as two gigantic dragons flew out from their caverns, one a pure blue, the other a vibrant red. The tribal warriors continued to play their rhythmic music, the leader frozen on the spot after whirling around, gawking at the dragons, since this was the first time they exited their caves on their own, without his guidance, in a long, long time.

They cried out as circled each other a little, the music keeping up with the majestic, fluid movements of their tails, flicking around one another before settling their attention on the circle of stone for the first time in decades. Their golden eyes fixated on the two new visitors, silent as they observed the Empress and her heiress with total concentration, stilling completely, still interlocked around one another.

"Oh, mighty Ran and Shaw," the chief stuttered out as he bowed in front of Kya and her now silent child, who was still kneeling behind him, shivering in absolute awe as she looked up at the almighty beasts of fire. "The warriors of the sun beg for your forgiveness, for an intruder has-"

The drums silenced instantly.

A sharp, simultaneous exhale from both the dragons' nostrils was enough to echo through the entire segment between mountains in which this shrine was, forcing the leader of the warriors to gulp as he bowed again, moving away from Kya and her child with a lowered back. The dragons advanced, slowly, carefully, eyeing the mother and her blinking child, who looked back at them with amazement, just as the baby looked back at everything.

Kya waited for the fear to overrun her useless, bleeding body, but it didn't come - she looked into the eyes of the blue and red beasts with calmness, yet, utter maternal desperation. She could feel her body shutting down, her breath weakening, her senses failing, the ability to hold her own child start to slacken as her eyes fought to stay open, to leak tears of fear and desolation.

"Save my child," she whispered into their eyes, so quietly, barely any sound escaped her mouth. The two pairs of golden eyes drifted between the small bundle and the wheezing mother, their jet black pupils fixated on them, watching so, so carefully. Their scales glistened from the setting sunlight, which has almost disappeared beyond the horizon.

Kya pressed her lips to her baby's head with a sob, pushing her against the stoned ground, towards to the huge beasts. She looked at the still silent dragons again, using her last bit of energy to reach out and touch both their noses with either of her hands, tears of absolute anxiety slipping from her eyes.

The warriors and leader gasped in horror, but the dragons remained still - kind and respectful as they listened with intensity.

"Save my daughter." Kya whispered, her blue eyes twinkling as she tasted her own salty tears.

She kept both her hands on them, looking right at them as a few minutes of silence rolled by, the dragons frozen under the woman's touch as their huge bodies floated in their air, their tails twisting with the light breeze. Kya's hope dwindled yet again at their lack of understanding, and she choked, blood dripping from her mouth. Her hands almost slipped away from their noses, but then, through her blundered mind, she heard a voice.

_"What is the child's name?" _a feminine voice echoed in Kya's mind, the blue dragon's whiskers whipping slightly.

Kya felt the relief surge through her one final time, grinning with bloodied teeth as she felt one last tear slip from her already blurred eyes. She looked into their eyes again, summoning her last breath as all life left her, looking down at her daughter one last time, since she was the last thing she wanted to see.

And in her final moments, Kya felt at peace - for she knew her daughter would be safe, hidden away, just like her husband and son.

"Katara." she wheezed, before falling.

The red dragon whipped out its thick whiskers and caught the deceased Empress's corpse, setting her down gently into the arms of tribal warrior who had taken the initiative to hold her. His eyes then fell back onto the small child, who looked up with icy blue eyes of wonder, small arms fighting under the cloth to reach out to the huge beasts, her coffee coloured, skin (inherited so clearly from her mother) illuminated under the setting sun.

Both dragons came closer to the bundle, twisting around small baby; the blue dragon wound her whiskers around the child wrapped in the parka, bringing her close to her snout, closing her eyes as she brushed against the baby with utter care. The red dragon followed suit, curling around the baby and his partner, using the tip of his whiskers to stroke the baby girl soothingly until she yawned, her eyes drifting shut into a peaceful, protected slumber.

"Chizai," the chief called out quietly, as to not disturb the purring dragons as they held their new child. The woman holding the Empress' corpse looked up, giving the body to another warrior before racing over the leader. "See to it a local mother knows to keep this child at her breast, and that a cot be made - one of our finest materials yet light enough to move to the ceremonial circle frequently."

The woman balked with a heavy frown. "My chief, you cannot be serious," she hissed, eyes skittering over to the curled bodies of dragons, winding around the sleeping baby carefully. "Don't tell me you can't sense it! That child, she is a _waterbender. _She is not even a child of the sun, but of the _moon_! We have no place keeping such an infant here! Almighty Ran and Shaw must _know _this-"

"Of course they do," the Sun Warrior chief cut off calmly, his eyes watching the majestic beasts as they stoked the small child softly with their gentle whiskers. "But it isn't up to us. We are here to serve almighty Ran and Shaw - if they have adopted this waterbender, so will we. But expecting them to do such things as feed and clothe this infant is ridiculous, is it not?"

The tribal women swallowed thickly before nodding, accepting his instruction, signalling with her fingers for the other warriors to the disperse and gather the things needed in order to house the first waterbender of the Sun Warriors in history.

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**I know that Ran and Shaw are both male, but in this fic, I'm making Shaw female (Shaw being the blue dragon, Ran being the red one). I only just came up with this idea, and at a terrible time, as my exams are about to start. Because of this, I won't be able to update for a long while - please bear with me. **

**I'm purposely not going to explain any of the things you may find foreign/weird/ridiculous because this prologue is made to be confusing for a reason. However, having said that, it will be a good two months before I update this again, so I'm begging you to be be patient. **

**I'd love to know what you thought - leave a review, if you'd be so kind. **

**- Yin**


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